Kolkata rape-murder case: Junior doctors and medical students conduct large protests on Mahalaya

Kolkata rape-murder case: Doctors, nurses, medical students and citizens took to the streets of Kolkata on Wednesday on the occasion of Mahalaya, demanding justice for a trainee doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, who was killed on August 9 after being raped.

This agitation was done in protest against the West Bengal government’s inability to take decisive action to meet the junior doctors’ security demands. The junior doctors have refused to return to work until the government meets their demands and the victim gets justice.

The protest march organised by the Bengal Junior Doctors Front began from College Street and culminated at Kolkata’s Esplanade area, where people carrying placards and Indian flags marched while raising slogans.

At the conclusion of the rally, the leaders of the Bengal Junior Doctors Front vowed to continue their agitation and said, “We will not give up. This is a question of our safety, our dignity and justice for Abhaya. The government cannot expect us to remain silent and do nothing.”

The protest was carried out on an important day as Mahalaya marks the beginning of the Durga Puja festival and is the period when devotees invoke Goddess Durga to descend on earth.However, this year’s celebrations have been hampered by the awful case of rape and murder.
After the rally, the protesters gathered on the banks of the Ganga and symbolically lit 1,000 diyas.

Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating junior doctors, while addressing the crowd said, “Today is the 52nd day of our protest and we are still facing attacks. There has been no positive response from the state government to meet our security and safety demands.”

After a consensus was reached on the demands in September, the doctors briefly returned to work after 42 days, however, they again raised the demand for justice on Tuesday. They alleged that key demands like enhanced safety measures for medical staff were not implemented, such as installation of CCTV cameras in hospital premises, 24/7 security for healthcare workers and strict protocols to prevent similar incidents of violence against medical professionals.

Doctors also allege that there is an atmosphere of fear in hospitals due to which they are not able to work across the state.

“We have come into this profession to serve people, but how can we do that when we are always in fear? We don’t even feel safe in the places where we should be saving people’s lives,” a junior doctor told PTI.

Aniket Mahato, a junior doctor and main organiser of the protest, said that though the West Bengal government had promised to look into their concerns, there was no follow-up action.

“The promises that were made were hollow. “We are being asked to go back to work without any specific actions to ensure our safety,” Mahato stated.

Meanwhile, a statue called ‘Abhaya’ was unveiled at the RG Kar Hospital campus, symbolising the struggle of the victim and the ongoing protest demanding justice.